Of King Football, and its no turkey, and something we still care far less about, regional elections, (or was this time around an exception?):
— Just hours before game time, on sports bar TV, the Mighty Minnesota Vikings, as they were called, got ready to face the New England Patriots in the NFL game of the week. It should be noted, to show the prominence of the contest, that the head ref was in his 16th year as an official, and even more importance was soon gained, especially around time the Viking game started, that the Packers had lost in the last moments. (Even as I am here at my computer, I can hear the moans from the Village Inn). Of course, there was possibly a different reaction at the more Viking friendly venues that are the first over the river into Hudson. But that didn’t last, as Minnesota soon dropped to a 10-0 deficit against Tom Brady, et. al. There was the brief reprieve of a Thielen TD, but the margin of eventual victory was so gleeful that Brady, who has strong Twin Cities roots, was seen out and about that night in the metro singing karaoke (OK we made that up). His supermodel wife is more the person you would want to see anyway, as the aging Thomas is looking a bit haggard at press conferences.
— Colors were shown well before halftime during the Vikings less-than-frigid contest at Seattle, leaving just a (rainy?) purple skin tone on the players, which is only halfway to the numb blue that the thermometer was indicating back in this area. Meanwhile, the glowing lime colored jerseys for Seattle stood out, at least for a time, as that pattern shown on a sports bar fan locally, who pointed initially to his less-then-neon green sweatshirt, then to his bold shoes (especially the laces). Alas, there was no green plus gold to be seen anywhere
— The Village Inn has taken their marquee to a whole new level, not just words but graphics, too. So was it any surprise that there was an actual photo of the fired Mike McCarthy displayed early this week, along with the Incubus-style words, (yes there was still them), “Nice to know you.” But by comparison, what about the fired viking offensive coordinator, who apparently became very offensive — OK that was an easy joke. And over the-long-forgotten-at-this-point Thanksgiving holiday, and replicated later, there was portrayed not a turkey, but a dancing cartoon chicken to bolster their food special of the day. And I can tell you from taking in that “winner, winner chicken dinner,” this special is no turkey.
— During the recent (does that reference still pass muster?) election buildup, the sheriff’s race just over the river was even inflicted on us western Wisconsin people this side of the river, as the ads in the various newspapers and TV stations from Minnesota had a crossover effect to us here. Like we care who wins the Washington County sheriff’s race. (The only concern we as Cheeseheads would have is putting somebody in office who would tone down the hyper-aggressive, late-night driver enforcement — what you’ve never seen the swarming Under The Bridge?) One of the past heads of that department was just a total pill anyway.
— And one last reference that just might get me in trouble, (SERIOUSLY FOLKS, WE’RE JOKING), is when one of my open-mic band associates ran me up on stage at moment’s notice during the intro to sing an Eric Clapton song, and since I didn’t know all the words, I ad libbed as such: “I shot the sheriff, of St. Croix County, and on my head, he has put a bounty.” Again, we’re just joking. What we are not joking about is calling some of the drummers and guitarists “associates.” What is this Wal-Mart? And their Muzac? (Sorry to dredge up yet another ’80s reference).
— One other “associate” has blatantly taken credit for getting actual western Wisconsin political candidates and, gasp!, getting them to advertise in TV ads that originate in the metro, but have spillover effect almost to Eau Claire. She wrote to Tammy Baldwin to suggest this, and then bingo, (a Wisconsin reference), there was such a plug on a major network out of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Then Gov. Walker got on board and ran his own spiel in the same manner, although a lot of these ads were in the a.m. hours. Hey, could this all be part of the Border Battle economic development wars started up under former Gov. Thompson? And yes, when it comes to the pretense of bringing businesses from Minnesota to the Hudson area, we are well aware of his, uhm, “side action.”
— A last political note stems from the sign that was seen a long time at the Holiday Station downtown. It said, seriously: Guatemalan. 99 cents. (Has immigrant labor gotten that cheap?) Almost like the wages paid to bartenders in those next few blocks, and hoping they are getting tips better than that previously mentioned Guatemalan rate!
— On the online news, the Motley Fool CEO made what was called a bold double (down) — Frank Zappa-ish dancing fool as well — to spur the effectiveness of his business. To quote the “late, great,” to use the term of one of my favorite karoake-meisters, Ronnie James Dio: “Fool, fool, you got to bleed for the dancer, fool, fool, look for the answer.